Ishan Kishan opens up to criticism, BCCI central contract snub; says, ’was not in a frame of mind to play’

With months of absence from the international cricket field and then a central contract snub by BCCI, India's wicket-keeper left-handed batter Ishan Kishan has finally opened up.

Kishan was last associated with the Indian cricket team in December last year while playing with South Africa, where he asked for a break midway.

After his sabbatical from international cricket, Kishan remained keen on training in Baroda with Hardik Pandya. Though he returned for the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2024, he was snubbed from the BCCI central contract along with Shreyas Iyer.

Kishan maintained that not featuring in domestic games for Jharkhand was 'normal' for him as he was on a break.

"I was scoring runs and then I found myself on the bench. These things do happen in a team sport. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong, I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that," The Indian Express quoted Kishan as saying.

'Not in a frame of mind'

He even stated that he was not in a frame of mind to play.

"I took a break and I think it was normal. There is a rule that if you want to make a comeback you must perform in domestic cricket. It is as simple as that. Now, it was very different for me to play domestic cricket as it was not making any sense. I was not in a frame of mind to play and that is why I took a break from international cricket. It doesn’t make sense that you take a break from international cricket and then you go and play domestic matches. Fir toh aap international hi khelte (Then I could have continued playing for India)," Kishan added.

On BCCI central contract snub:

Reacting to the BCCI central contract snub, Kishan said, "I don’t want to be sad about anything. I’ll keep giving my best."